Advent Reflection - IV

OT - Deuteronomy 18:15–19 Psalm - Psalm 111 Epistle - Philippians 4:4–7 Gospel - John 1:19–28 or Luke 1:39–56

Deuteronomy 18:15–19 ESV

15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

Psalm 111 ESV

1 Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. 2 Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. 3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. 4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful. 5 He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. 6 He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations. 7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy; 8 they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. 9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name! 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

Philippians 4:4–7 ESV

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Luke 1:39–56 ESV

39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” 46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” 56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

Pastoral Prayer

Missionary

Local church

LWC

To those in school right now, have you ever questioned why you need to learn a certain subject? Some subjects and studies just don’t seem necessary to the average person.

Take trigonometry for example… trig certainly has it’s real life applications, but I have never come across a situation where I needed to know trig in my day to day life.

In fact, I hardly needed to know the order of operations.

I took biology and chemistry, and loved them both, but in my day to day life, I have not needed to know the cell structure of a plant, nor have I needed to know what a noble gas is.

Students need to learn a variety of subjects, but often times it might feel as if those subjects have no practical value to most of us in our day to day lives.

But does the same go for theology? Does the study of God have any practical implications for us today? Or to take this a step further, does our hope in Christ’s future return have any meaningful implications for our life today?

Our text this morning answers this question, and the answer is a resounding yes.

Philippians 4:4–7 ESV

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This passage is a wonderful passage, but all at once, it seems impossible at first.

We are given multiple these impossible commands:

We are told to rejoice in the Lord always… That is to say, we are to always have joy, and we are to always express that joy. That is what it means to rejoice. This sounds like an impossible command to keep for those who are living in a broken world marked my sin and suffering. And if that wasn’t hard enough, Paul tells us to not be anxious about anything. How is that possible? For those who are sick with cancer, or for those who are experience the thorns and thistles of their work, how is it possible to not be anxious?

These commands find their foundation in a five little words there in v 5… Paul tells us - The Lord is at hand

Let’s consider what it means for the Lord to be at hand

if something is at hand, that means it is within your reach. So might say that my phone is at hand, because I have it here in my pocket.

So what does it mean for the Lord to be at hand? It means he is near to us.

Because of Jesus’ death on the cross in the place of our sins, we who have believe can now draw near to God… the great chasm that separated us and God has been closed because of the finished work of Christ.

Psalm 145:18 ESV

18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

And again,

Matthew 28:20 ESV

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Understand this… the Lord is at hand… that is, he is near to you. But not only is he near to us now, but he is soon going to return.

James 5:8 ESV

8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

and again

1 Peter 4:7 ESV

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

For the Lord to be at hand, means that he is near to us, and he is soon to come again.